Fifty Maps and the Stories they Tell

The Bodleian Library's map collection features medieval maps, digital cartograms, rare artefacts, and modern examples, showcasing cartography's evolution over centuries and reflecting political and social change.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 144 pages
Publication date: 05 July 2019
Publisher: Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library's extraordinary map collection is showcased in this book, featuring highlights from medieval maps to digital cartograms. Rare artefacts and stunning examples from twenty-first-century map-makers are also included. Each map is accompanied by a narrative revealing the story behind its creation and the significance of what it shows. The chronological arrangement highlights how cartography has evolved over the centuries and how it reflects political and social change. The book includes a twelfth-century Arabic map of the Mediterranean, highly decorated portolan charts, military maps, trade maps, a Siberian sealskin map, maps of heaven and hell, C.S. Lewis's map of Narnia, J.R.R. Tolkien's cosmology of Middle-earth, and Grayson Perry's tapestry map. This book is a treasure-trove of cartographical delights spanning over a thousand years.

Weight: 484g
Dimension: 196 x 196 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781851245239